Now that the days are becoming shorter I have started to think about Winter dinners. We love to eat colder foods in summer and warmer dishes in winter. I feel this helps the body to keep it’s equilibrium. To be honest, I think we can stay more balance when our diet changes to suit the seasons. Soup is a great way to get plenty of vitamins and minerals into our diet. Plus I added the meatballs for extra protein. The meal is a yummy way to start Winter. We really enjoyed this dish and we hope you will too.
What Winter dinners do you enjoy and why? Let me know in the comments below and please don’t forget to like, comment and subscribe.
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Plate
- Baking tray
- Small bowl
- Bowl
- Sharp knife
- Chopping board
- Slow cooker
- Tablespoon
- Teaspoon
- Stirring spoon
- Fork x 2
- Blender
Ingredients for the turkey meatballs
- Turkey mince x 500g
- Ground flax seed or breadcrumbs x 2 – 4 tbsp
- Courgette x 1
- Tamari x 1 – 2 tbsp
- Dried oregano x 1 tsp
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method for the meatballs
- Peel and grate the courgette.
- Place the turkey mince into a large mixing bowl.
- Add in the ground flax seed, tamari, grated courgette and salt and pepper to taste.
- Dampen your hands under the tap so that the meat mixture doesn’t stick.
- With your dampened hands scrunch all of the ingredients together until everything is well mixed in.
- At this point you might need to dampen your hands again.
- Split the mixture into four parts and grab a piece of the mixture.
- Roll it between your hands until it forms a barrel shape or ball.
- Continue until all of the mixture is has been used to make meatballs.
- You might need to dampen your hands a couple of times during this process.
- Place the meatballs onto a plate and put it into the fridge.
- These can be made the day before or a couple of hours before.
- Once the meatballs have been in the fridge preheat the oven to 200°C or gas mark 5.
- Put the baking tray in at the same time.
- Remove the baking tray and put the cold meatballs in.
- Place the tray in the oven.
- Cook for 25 – 30 minutes or until a golden brown colour and the juice have run clear.
Ingredients for the soup
- Tinned tomatoes x 1 400ml tin
- Carrot x 1
- Celery x 1 stick
- Vegetable stock, chicken stock or bone broth x 600ml
- Dried cannellini beans x 300g or 2 400g tins
- Tamari x 2 tbsp
- Mild or hot chili powder x 1 tsp
- Smoked paprika x 1 tsp
- Cayenne pepper x 1 – 2 pinches or more if you like it spicy
- Garlic granules x 1 tsp
- Onion granules x 1 tsp
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Measure the amount of beans you will need for your recipe.
- Put them into the large bowl, if you haven’t already then cover in enough water and then a couple of inches above.
- Soak the beans in the fridge overnight.
- You may want to use a bowl with a lid.
- The next day remove the beans from the fridge and pour any excess water through the colander.
- Rinse under the tap.
- Put the beans into the large saucepan.
- Again pour enough water to cover the beans plus a two inches above.
- Add in the baking powder and salt to your taste.
- Turn the hob onto high and bring to the boil.
- When the pan starts to boil turn the heat down to low.
- Leave to simmer until most of the water has disappeared.
- Then drain through the colander and rinse under the tap.
- Put the beans into the slow cooker pot.
- Peel the carrot and slice and dice into small pieces.
- Slice the celery into 1/2 centimetre pieces.
- Then add these ingredients to the slow cooker.
- Add in the tinned tomatoes and stock or bone broth and stir these ingredients together.
- Next add in the tahini, mild or hot chili powder, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic granules and onion granules to the pot.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Stir all the ingredients around in the pot until everything is well mixed together.
- Turn the slow cooker on low for 5 – 6 hours or on high for 2 – 3 hours.
- An hour before the end of cooking time, turn the slow cooker off and leave the soup to cool.
- Once it has cooled add it into the food processor.
- The process may need to be done in two batches as the food processor may not be big enough for all the soup.
- Use the measuring jug if necessary.
- Put the soup back into the slow cooker and keep on ‘keep warm’ until ready to serve.
- Finally, serve with the turkey meatballs and enjoy.
Southern Spice Soup with Turkey Meatballs was a tasty meal. It was easy to prepare and cook. The meatballs and the soup could be made in advance of a meal and stored in the freezer for another occasion. The dish was a great dinner but it can also be a yummy lunch. Plus it makes delicious leftovers too. However you decide to eat this meal, as always, please enjoy. Thank you. xxx
Googies Kitchen Life 